Hey everyone! My name is Hugh Hatcher and I was lucky enough to get my Pinternship at LASP(Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) in Boulder, Colorado. I am working with Dmitry Vorobiev as well as a number of other undergraduate and graduate students here.
My first week at LASP was very exciting. The first two days this week I spent meeting everybody I will be working with this summer and doing some basic training for the lab. That included ESD (electrostatic discharge) procedures—learning how to ground ourselves and handle sensitive components without damaging them—and cleanroom protocols, where we practiced gowning up, wiping down equipment, and maintaining a clean work environment. After completing our basic training we jumped right into work by helping with an ongoing experiment measuring advanced optic fibers’ performance transferring UV light in a vacuum chamber. My fellow intern CJ and I learned the procedures to set up the fibers in the experiment, pump down the vacuum chamber, and cleave the optic fibers with a ruby knife (it took a lot of practice to get good at this). However, there were some issues with the experiment as the instruments were not collecting the expected data. CJ and I helped trouble shoot the issue and after the team had confirmed it was an alignment issue we helped create a shim out of aluminum to help properly align the fiber with the measuring instrument (a monochromator). Once the shim was in place, our transmission measurements aligned with expected values and curve shapes, which confirmed that the fiber was aligned.I’m looking forward to next week as since everything seems to be working we will be able to finally resume testing the fibers in the fully pumped out vacuum chamber. We’ll resume the systematic cut-back tests—shortening the fiber in precise increments to map how UV transmission varies with length.
Outside the lab, CJ and I have been settling into our new apartment and familiarizing ourselves with Boulder. We’ve checked out restaurants, been to the CU Rec Center, and scoped out nearby trails for weekend hikes. I’m looking forward to the rest of this summer.
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